Members of Parliament interact with South Central Railway officials at a coordination meeting at Rail Nilayam in Secunderabad on Thursday. The MPs raised concerns over delays in railway development projects across Telangana. (Photo by arrangement)

Hyderabad: South Central Railway (SCR) on Thursday held a coordination meeting with Members of Parliament at Rail Nilayam, where MPs raised concerns over delays in sanctioned railway projects, including new lines, road overbridges, passenger amenities and regional connectivity.

The day-long meeting was attended by Union coal and mines minister G. Kishan Reddy, 15 MPs and senior SCR officials.

Several MPs from Telangana questioned SCR general manager Sanjay Kumar Srivastava over the slow progress of development works. They said work had yet to begin on several sanctioned road overbridges (ROBs), road underbridges (RUBs), foot overbridges (FOBs) and other projects.

Welcoming the MPs, Srivastava said 40 railway stations in Telangana were being redeveloped at a cost of more than ₹2,000 crore.

Four stations — Hi-Tech City, Begumpet, Karimnagar and Warangal — had already been inaugurated after redevelopment under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, while work at the remaining stations was progressing, he said.

Srivastava said 1,481 km of new-line, doubling and tripling projects were under way at a cost of about ₹24,210 crore.

Since April 2025, four pairs of new trains and five pairs of Amrit Bharat trains had been introduced, while 14 trains had been extended to various terminals and 56 trains provided stoppages at different stations. Thirty pairs of trains were regularised in 2026, he said.

Medak MP Madhavaneni Raghunandan Rao sought an action-taken report on the demands raised at the previous meeting in October 2024.

“Why has work on the ROB in my constituency not begun even though its foundation stone was laid long ago?” he asked. He also questioned why the MPs’ meeting was not held in 2025.

Raghunandan Rao urged railway officials to expedite track-doubling and new-line projects. He also sought the establishment of a terminal on the western side of Edulanagulapalli.

Mahbubabad MP Porika Balram Naik sought the reintroduction of the Izzat pass concession.

“The passes were available at a nominal cost and allowed multiple journeys. They helped students from rural and tribal families travel to colleges in major towns. We have sought their reintroduction,” he said.

Malkajgiri MP Etala Rajender said the Centre, and not the state government, was providing funds for land acquisition for railway projects.

“We have secured sanctions for 24 RUBs and ROBs so far. The works will be completed within two years,” he said.

Rajender said a large number of people from northern India lived in his constituency and that the Railways had been requested to operate special trains for them. Proposals had also been submitted for two new stations on the MMTS network, he added.

Peddapalli MP Gaddam Vamsi Krishna demanded that SCR immediately begin sanctioned railway works in his constituency.

“Why should development due to Peddapalli be stalled when the region contributes substantial revenue to the national economy and railway freight traffic through Singareni and its coal mines?” he asked.

“This is not anyone’s personal money. It is public money and belongs to the people of Peddapalli. Every rupee sanctioned must be spent on development works,” he said.

Srivastava thanked the MPs for their suggestions and assured them that their proposals would be accorded priority and that every effort would be made to implement them.

Among those present were Vaddiraju Ravichandra, Mandadi Anil Kumar Yadav, Vem Narender Reddy, Eatala Rajender, Madhavaneni Raghunandan Rao, Kadiyam Kavya, Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, Kunduru Raghuveer Reddy, R. Raghuram Reddy, Suresh Kumar Shetkar, Porika Balram Naik, G. Nagesh, D.K. Aruna, Bastipati Nagaraju and Kesineni Sivanath.

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